Finding A Place
by Malboro-Pearls
Summary: Jasper wants nothing more than to find his place in the world and feels he can't do that in Forks, WA. What happens when he finds something he should have left alone and brings an enchanting stranger to his door wanting it back? Will he hand it over or want to get to know it's owner on a more personal level? Will he uncover secrets he's not supposed to know about the world?
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Not Stephenie Meyer and to be safe, I'm not Jeff Davis either. If was, I'd be thinking up ideas for a new series of Criminal Minds, rather than taking his characters qualities, putting them into Twilight characters and twisting them around for my pleasure.**_

**_I know that you're probably waiting for an update on my other stories - which are coming soon, I promise - but I haven't been able to get this plotline out of my head for a while now. It's different to my other stories, so I hope you enjoy it._**

_**Jasper**_

High school sucks.

High school _kids_ suck.

Life sucks.

That's pretty much it, really.

Pretty much the way of the seventeen year old, don't you agree?

If only there was something out there to make things more interesting, especially in this crappy little town. Why my parents thought it would be a good idea to move here, I don't know. Oh, wait. I do know. Because they thought that Rosalie's and my behaviour was taking a turn for the worse down in Houston and thought that it would be better for the two of us if we moved to an out of the way Hicksville town.

All because Rose had been late for curfew once and I'd slipped below my straight A average because I'd been out of school sick for a couple of weeks so I missed some stuff.

Apparently, that means that we're turning into deviants that _must_ be moved.

If only they knew.

"Jazz?" I looked over to see my sister walking towards me, a paper bag in her hand.

"Lunch mix-ups again?" I asked and she nodded, grimacing. Needless to say, she didn't like my lunch. I snickered, knowing that I would probably hate what Ma had made her as well.

"You going down to La Push after school?" She asked and I nodded, knowing that I would probably end up there again. It seemed to be the only place I could get any time to myself here. In Houston, you could disappear and do whatever the hell you wanted without anyone giving a crap. Here, you couldn't fucking fart without someone knowing it ten minutes later.

Another thing I hated about this town.

Along with the fact that there's no fucking sun here.

I only had a year left until I went to college and could get the fuck back to Texas. Or maybe Arizona. Or Florida. Or just somewhere it didn't rain ninety-five per cent of the fucking time.

Rosalie gave me a small wave before walking off towards her friends. I'd always envied how quickly she made friends and I knew that if I tried, I probably could too. She was the more outgoing one of the two of us and she didn't have any problems fitting in anywhere. I was the more awkward twin. I didn't really like being around people and for some reason, no matter how much I tried to make that point clear, they always seemed to think that because Rose and I were twins, we had the same personalities.

Didn't people know that fraternal twins share the same amount of DNA as regular siblings? We just happened to be born at the same time.

People are stupid sometimes.

Checking the time I groaned as I saw that I had to head into class. I really didn't want to deal with this kind of crap at the moment.

Balling up the paper bag that had held my lunch and threw it into the trash before heading back in to class. English.

Fun, huh?

Can you sense my joy?

Throwing myself down into my seat, I crossed my arms in front of me on my desk, resting my chin on my arms as I waited for the idiots I shared this class with to stop fucking whining about whatever the hell was going on in their lives and sit down. In my opinion, the faster the class got started, the faster it finished. Logically, I knew that wasn't true but it worked in my head, so that's what I was sticking to.

"Alright." As soon as teach started talking, everyone scurried into their seats, like good little mice. "For the next few weeks we will be reviewing folklore literature from the England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Celtic folklores. We'll be looking at the creatures of folklore such as the kelpie, the brownie, the pixie, the leprechaun, the selkie and so forth. We'll be reviewing all of this over the next few weeks. You may have noticed that you have a sheet in front of you, letting you know what you'll need to research over the next couple of weeks."

I looked down at the desk under my arms and noticed that there was, in fact, a sheet of paper in front of me. How had a not noticed that when I sat down. Maybe it was because I really didn't give a shit about this class or what happened in it.

I picked it up, looking at some of the things listed on here. Pixies, I got. But what the fuck was a kelpie? Or a Cat Sith? That one sounds like it should be in Star Wars or something. What the hell was a Brodach? Or a Selkie?

Where the hell did they come up with these things?

I didn't want to know to be honest.

I switched off for the rest of the class, waiting for the bell to ring. Since when do we learn about weird folklore creatures in English class? If we wanted to learn about that crap, shouldn't we have the option of taking a mythology class or something?

What-the-hell-ever.

It took a lot of effort for me not to fall asleep in class as he droned on about things that we were going to be looking at over the next few weeks. Part of me knew I should be paying attention but the other part really couldn't give a rats' ass.

Thankfully my last two classes of the day passed quickly – we actually got to do something in Chemistry today, rather than sitting there writing down whatever the teacher wrote on the board, so that class was actually kind of interesting.

I booked it down to First Beach down in La Push straight after last class, not really caring as someone called my name. I knew that it would be Alice, a little pixie-ish girl that wouldn't leave me alone. I really couldn't be assed with her today. There was always something she wanted to talking about and it generally led to her subtly (or not so subtly) hinting that she wanted me to take her out.

Not happening.

I'd rather sit in a padded cell with nothing to look at but white walls for the rest of my life than spend time with a looks obsessed short-stuff that does nothing but talk about shopping and celebrities.

Gah!

I shivered at the thought.

I threw myself into my car and pulled out of the parking lot as quickly as I could.

I slowed down as I drove out of Forks and down into La Push. I sat in my car as I turned off the engine and watched the waves.

I pulled the keys out and climbed out of the car, walking down to the sand of the beach. I walked down to the large driftwood log I had claimed as my own while I was here.

I pulled out my packet of smokes, lighting one up as I sat there and watched the waves. None of my family could understand why I like coming down here and just sitting here not doing anything and I didn't really feel like explaining it to them.

Sitting here, watching the ocean made it seems like everything in my head was just washing away. Like the waves were taking every thought that was running through my head out with them with every ebb and flow.

Looking at the ocean I could see that everything was insignificant. It made everything in comparison seem so small. Like there was nothing else that could compare.

I rested my elbows on my knees, watching the waves.

I blinked as something appeared in the waves ahead of me. I watched it for a moment before reaching into my pocket and pulled out my cell. I didn't take my eyes off of the spot in front of me as it bobbed there, unmoving in the waves. What the hell was it?

I knew where the camera was on my phone so I tapped it quickly as I held it up and took a photograph of what I was seeing. Hopefully, I'd be able to zoom in and see what it was.

It stayed there for about a minute longer before it disappeared underneath the waves. I shook my head, wondering if it was just a figment of my imagination.

I looked down at my phone, seeing that it was slightly zoomed in due to the fact that it was a camera. Why the hell they did that, I have no idea. Sometimes, it was annoying and sometimes, like now, it came in handy.

I zoomed in on the picture, able to make out the fact that the spot I'd seen in the waves in front of me was actually a seal. I was able to see that it was facing me, seeming to look straight at me.

What the fuck?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**_Let me know what you think._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, so that means that I don't own Twilight. It's sad times, I know but I think I'm okay with taking her characters and forming my own stories, personalities and making them do what I want.**_

_**Jasper**_

I went back to the beach over the next couple of days, wanting to see the seal again. I knew that it was definitely a seal, because I'd been able to load it up onto my computer to see it more clearly than I could on my phone.

I didn't see it again after that.

What the hell was a seal doing in the waters around La Push at this time of year? I knew that there were seals around this area but not at this time of year.

It didn't come back.

Maybe it had just become separated from its group and had somehow found its way back to its family. I couldn't say that I wasn't disappointed that I didn't see it again. It was kind of cool to think that I'd had a staring match with a seal.

I ran out of the house on the Saturday morning and went down to the beach again. There was a chance that the locals or others from the school would be there trying to catch some waves or whatever but I still wanted to try and see it again.

Walking over to my log I was surprised that my assumption that someone else would be on the beach was wrong. Just like the other times I generally came down here the beach was deserted.

I sat on the log, waiting for a little while, watching the waves in the exact spot I had seen the seal. I sat there until my ass started to go numb so I stood up, making my way over towards the tidepools. I heard what sounded like laughter coming from somewhere nearby but when I looked, I couldn't see anyone around.

I shook my head, realising that I was going mad and carried on walking. I sat down on one of the large rocks, looking around to see if the source of the laughter I'd heard was actually real or something that was just inside my head. I hoped it was real or that might be something I need to get checked out.

I looked out over the sea again, noticing how the sun sparkled across the waves and smiling softly to myself. I closed my eyes, breathing in the harsh salt of the air, wishing that there was a way to stay here for longer than I normally did.

I sighed as my phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing that it was Rose calling me. She knew where I was going and knew that I didn't like to be called while I was down at the beach.

"Hey, Rose." I sighed, knowing that something was going on.

"Hey, sorry that I had to call you while you're doing your 'stare at the sea and wish you could live there' thing." I could practically see her rolling her eyes at what I was doing. Nothing I wasn't doing the same thing to her.

I turned my head as something caught my eye. "You know it's not like that, Rose." I grumbled, sliding off the rock and jumping onto a smaller one, trying to keep the phone in my hand at the same time. Successfully done, by the way. "What do you want?"

"Apparenty, Nanna and Papa are coming into town this evening." She sighed and my head snapped up.

"What?" That sucked donkey balls! "Since when?"

"They called Ma this morning to tell her that they were flying in. Should be here by five apparently. If they're going to be later than that, they're going to stay in Port Angeles and come into Forks tomorrow morning." She didn't sound impressed either and she, like me, knew that it meant that we had to put up with the drill sergeant for the foreseeable future.

"No escape?" I asked, kneeling down, seeing something carefully hidden inside a crevice in one of the rocks.

"No escape." She sighed and I reached into the crevice, feeling something soft, like fur underneath my fingers.

"I guess I'll see you at home then." I sighed and she hummed in agreement before we hung up. I put my phone back in my pocket and used my other hand to ease whatever the hell it was I had a hold of out from the crevice it had been hidden in.

I stood up, seeing that it was some kind of fur coat or something, folded with gentle care, and made my way out of the tidepool, unfolding it. I jumped back, dropping it as I saw that it wasn't a fur coat, but in fact a _seal skin_. What the fuck?

It still had the head on it and everything.

I moved back over to it, seeing that it was actually completely clean. I gingerly touched its edges, seeing that there was no kind of stitching or anything that resembled anything that might lead you to believe it was manufactured at all.

I looked around, not wanting to be seen with it and scooped it up, lopping it over my arm and folding it over so it looked like a jacket rather than what it actually was.

I quickly walked back down the beach towards my car, glancing around every so often. I was sure that there was no one following me but I couldn't shake the idea that I was being watched. I stopped at the top of the steps and looked back down at the beach, feeling someone's eyes on me but seeing no one.

I really was going nuts.

I unlocked my car, sliding into the drivers' seat while I placed the seal skin on the passengers' seat next to me. I gripped the steering wheel, noticing that my hand felt strange. Slightly slippery as I grabbed it. I pulled my hand away from the wheel and looking at my palm, noticing a slight shimmer to my skin.

What the hell was going on?

I glanced at the skin, knowing that there was something going on with that thing. It wasn't normal but I couldn't leave it there. Who knew who else would find it?

I shook my head, wiping my hand on my jeans before shoving the keys into the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot. I glanced over the beach one more time, braking sharply as I swore I saw someone standing waist high in the surf. I could have sworn they weren't there before.

I couldn't see them properly but I could see that whoever it was was male. He looked in shape, lean but not overly muscled. Well, what I could see of him anyway. I closed my eyes, shaking my head before looking back out to where he was standing to find him gone. What the hell? He'd disappeared in seconds.

People could actually do that?

I shook my head again, remembering that I had my grandparents on the way and I knew that if I walked into the house after they arrived I'd never hear the end of it from the Colonel. I gritted my teeth at the thought of my grandfather. He was an army man, even in his retirement. He wanted my dad to go into the army and he'd enlisted, just as he'd wanted him to but after my dad had had an accident meaning that he lost eighty per cent of the use of his right hand. He hadn't been able to live up to his father's expectations of becoming an officer in the army, like he had, which meant that the Colonel had turned his attention to me.

He wanted me to follow in his footsteps.

Not fucking likely.

It would be a snowy day in fucking hell before you saw me joining the goddamn army and not a moment before.

I pulled into the driveway, eyeing the seal skin. I could see that the lights were all on in the house, meaning that everyone was home. I bit my lip, wondering how I was going to get it inside the house without anyone asking.

I grabbed it, tucking it underneath my arm, as though I was carrying a jacket. I grabbed my bag, carrying it in the same hand as I grabbed my keys, locking my car as I walked up to the house, slipping my key into the door, swiftly moving through and closing it behind me. I bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reached the landing.

"Jasper, honey?" I turned, leaning over the bannister to see my Ma at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. "Your grandparents will be here shortly. Dinner's almost ready."

"Okay, Ma, I'm just going to take a shower." I grinned at her, shaking my hair out of my eyes. "Beach grime, you know?"

She laughed softly, shaking her head and waving me off. My mom knew why I felt so drawn to the sea. After we moved here, she was the one that first took my down to the beach on the reservation. She had told me that if I ever felt like everything was becoming too much, coming down to the ocean would help to wash everything away and allow me the peace I needed to work through everything in my own head.

She was right. That was the exact effect it had on me.

My father and sister didn't really understand but I didn't need them to. As long as I had my mama by me, I was okay.

I quickly dashed into my room, closing the door behind me and dropping my bag onto the floor. I pulled the seal skin out from under my arm, still seeing that faint shimmer in the sunlight that I had seen down on the beach. I wondered what the hell was up with this thing.

I put it on my bed, reaching underneath and pulled out the old army footlocker my dad had given me when I was twelve. He had finally come to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be using it anymore and gave it to me. There wasn't much in it, a few books and old reports from school and things I knew that no one else really cared what was in it.

I opened it, grabbing the old padlock and key that had come with it and folded the skin, placing it inside the locker. I slipped the padlock through the loop, clicking it closed and pulling the key out and giving it a quick tug to make sure it was locked. Satisfied that it was, I pushed the locker back underneath my bed. It seemed a lot heavier than it had before I'd placed the skin in there. Heavier than it should have been.

Weird.

I grabbed a silver chain I had on my dresser, looping the key around it before putting it around my neck. I didn't want to risk anyone else getting in there and finding it. Not that anyone would but human nature just goes to show that if something's locked, people will be curious.

Didn't want to take that chance.

I grabbed a towel from one of the shelves on my wardrobe and sped into the bathroom, wanting to take a speedy shower so I didn't piss of my Ma. The Colonel might have been intimidating but my Ma angry was just fucking scary.

As I climbed into the shower, I thought about how protective she was of me and Rosie, probably more than she should have been. Especially considering Forks had the crime rate of practically nothing. It was amazing that we had a police force at all.

But then again, I guess growing up in a city will do that to you. My Ma and Daddy had experienced more than the average small town person. A lot of the people here had been born here, maybe left for college and then come back. They hadn't really seen much of the world and it made them a little more naïve than those who'd grown up in the city.

"Jasper!" I jumped at the loud banging on the door. "Jazz, hurry the hell up!" I rolled my eyes at my sister. "You're not the only one who needs the bathroom!"

"Alright!" I shouted back, aggravated at my sister. She couldn't even allow me ten minutes of peace and quiet. And she wondered why I liked to be at the beach on my own so much.

She fell quiet and I could faintly hear my Ma shouting from downstairs. I smirked to myself, revelling in the fact that I knew that I was not the only one in the family to fear my mother.

I climbed out of the shower, grabbing my towel and wrapping it around my waist before grabbing my clothes and opening the door. I chuckled, seeing a grumpy looking Rose standing outside the door. She wasn't happy. She had plans with her boyfriend tonight and our grandparents turning up had thrown a wrench in her plans.

"Finally!" By the way she was acting you would have thought I'd been in there for hours. I rolled my eyes, moving past her towards my own room.

I closed the door, drying myself slightly before emptying the pockets of my jeans and dumping my clothes in the hamper. I pulled off my towel, dropping it on my bed, and walking over to my chest of drawers, letting myself air dry. I yanked out a pair of boxers, pulling them on before grabbing another pair of jeans. My Ma would fuss about the fact that I wasn't dressed smartly for my grandparents but really? Who dresses up for their grandparents? Only at Christmas or formal events.

I pulled on a black t-shirt, feeling it press the key into my chest and I glanced at the footlocker under my bed.

I shook my head, turning and walking out of my door and down the stairs, walking into the kitchen to see if my Ma needed help. She didn't, like she never did but I knew she appreciated the fact that I was asking. I was the only one in the house, other than my Ma, than had any kind of skill in the kitchen. My dad's main skill was getting a beer out of the fridge, popping it open and settling in front of the TV and Rosie could burn toast without even adjusting the settings on the toaster.

"Jasper, couldn't ya have worn something a bit . . . smarter?" She asked, her southern twang coming out more in her exasperated tone.

"Why? It's not like it's a formal dinner or anything?" I shrugged and she sighed again, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with me on that issue.

I heard a car pull up into the driveway moments before a car door closed and another few moments before the second one followed behind it. My grandfather always had his manners. He always opened the door for my Gramma, just like my Daddy did for my Ma.

It was only moments later that there was a confident knock on the door and my dad walked to the door, plastering a smile on his face as he opened the door to his parents. I knew that this impromptu visit from his parents would stress him out. It always did.

"Mother! Father!"

"Aww, Jason!" My Gramma threw her arms around him and he laughed, wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug. While the Colonel was all business all the time, Gramma was nothing but warm, cuddly and everything the stereotypical grandmother should be. "Where are they?" She pulled away from my Daddy, looking around, grinning when she saw me. "Jasper!" She pushed away from my Daddy and practically ran towards me, throwing her arms around me. "Oh, how I've missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Gramma." I laughed, hugging her back.

We pulled away from each other and I noticed that her coat was wet. I glanced out of the window, seeing that it was raining – surprise, surprise – and they'd gotten caught in it.

She quickly moved onto my Mama and Rosie while the Colonel stood there, watching the scene before him.

I didn't really know how to approach him. I never had and I knew that my sister felt the same way. Neither of us were really comfortable around him and I had a feeling that was part of what he wanted. He was used to people doing what he told them. He was used to his orders being followed with no question.

I don't think he knew what to really do with two teenagers.

Pleasantries were quickly dismissed and we moved into the living room, my dad bringing in a tray of drinks while my Mama finished up in the kitchen. I didn't feel bad about not being in there and helping her because she'd threatened everyone with a wooden spoon if they didn't get out and not come back until she called us in.

My dad was telling my grandparents about what Rosie and I were up to at school and in our lives. He didn't mention the fact that I spent the majority of my free time at the beach. I was glad he didn't tell them about that. My Gramma might understand a little bit but the Colonel would look down on me for it. He saw anything like that as being weak and I didn't want him to have a reason to look down on me.

We were interrupted by a succession of knocks on the front door. I looked at my dad, confused before getting up to answer the door.

I opened the door, amazed at how loud the rain was now, my eyes widening to find a soak boy standing on our porch.

He looked around seventeen, his hair dark and plastered to his head from the rain. He was pale, his skin appearing to glow in the light coming from inside the house. He was completely drenched, the think hoodie and t-shirt he was wearing, soaked through, as were the sneakers that were on his feet and the jeans he was wearing. I could see that he was shivering as he stood there but there was something about him that struck me dumb.

He looked up at me, his jaw clenched as he shivered, his deep emerald eyes bright and shining, boring into mine as he stood there. I swallowed, my mouth dry, not knowing what to say or even form words.

There was something in his eyes. Recognition of some kind. But that wasn't possible. I'd never seen him before.

But the way he looked at me told me that he knew me somehow.

But how?

. . . . . . . . . . .


End file.
